Misc. Baseballhttps://miscbaseball.wordpress.com
Gathering Assorted Items of Baseball History and TriviaTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:26:27 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngMisc. Baseballhttps://miscbaseball.wordpress.com
MiscBaseballhttps://feedburner.google.comA Few Notes on Jimmie Foxx’s Hitting in 1938https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/a-few-notes-on-jimmie-foxxs-hitting-in-1938/
https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/a-few-notes-on-jimmie-foxxs-hitting-in-1938/#commentsTue, 24 Feb 2015 00:12:54 +0000http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/?p=3589]]>These are some features I noticed, looking through Foxx’s game log. In 1938, Foxx achieved each stop from 1 to 8 RBIs in a game, which I could see being a feat no one else has achieved in MLB history. Foxx twice drove in 6 runs in one game, drove in 4 runs in six games, and closed out the 149-game season with 7 RBIs vs. the Yankees on October 1. He had a streak of 14 RBIs over 5 games, and a streak of 13 RBIs in 4 games. He drew 6 walks in one game, vs. the Browns on June 16.

He did these things without the benefit of Ted Williams: the Red Sox who finished second to Foxx’s 175 RBIs was Pinky Higgins with 106, and second behind Foxx’s 50 homers was Joe Cronin with 17.

]]>https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/a-few-notes-on-jimmie-foxxs-hitting-in-1938/feed/0hatomamaTeam Sub-.300 Winning Percentageshttps://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/team-sub-300-winning-percentages/
https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/team-sub-300-winning-percentages/#commentsSun, 08 Feb 2015 17:12:04 +0000http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/?p=3569]]>Wikipedia has a convenient page listing the 34 sub-.300 winning percentages posted by MLB teams from the 1870s to the present. Here are a few observations gleaned from that list.

The only sub-.235% teams played before 1900: 5 of them.

There have been 20 sub-.300% teams from 1900 onward, versus 14 before 1900. 16 of those 20 teams were in the Northeast (that is, from D.C. to Boston and west to Pittsburgh).

Eight of the 34 teams have been editions of the Philadelphia Phillies or Philadelphia A’s. The St. Louis Browns (3) are the only team west of the Mississippi River on the list.

Three of the 34 teams played after the end of World War II; 3 played during WWII (all of them Phillies teams), and 4 played during the ’30s. The Phillies had 5 seasons from 1938-1945 of sub-.300 records. In those 5 seasons, they cumulatively went 221-539, for a .291 winning percentage. I don’t know the franchise’s history in detail, but it sounds like it suffered from malfeasance or severe incompetence during those years. All that losing explains the fervor and exhilaration that surrounded their pennant-winning Whiz Kids team in 1950.

Finally: in light of the recent scarcity of teams losing more than 105 games in a season-even the 2013 Astros only lost 111 games-the fact of the 2003 Tigers going 43-119 (.265%) is almost inexplicable.

]]>https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/team-sub-300-winning-percentages/feed/2hatomamaSome Notes on Walter Johnsonhttps://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2015/01/24/walter-johnson/
https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2015/01/24/walter-johnson/#commentsSat, 24 Jan 2015 16:48:39 +0000http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/?p=3571]]>You probably have a decent, but somewhat vague, idea of exactly what the Big Train accomplished in baseball. You can look through his career numbers, but it’s worth spelling out some of his more remarkable stats to highlight his uniqueness and some of the best arguments his backers can make for declaring him the greatest pitcher ever.

Johnson threw 110 shutouts, including 8 years with 7 or more shutouts. He had 12 years of 20 or more wins, including 69 wins in 1912 and 1913 combined. His 1.59 ERA for the decade of the 1910s, when he averaged 7 shutouts a year, was good for a cumulative ERA+ of 183, which, as his Baseball-reference Bullpen entry notes, would rank as ten of the top 100 single seasons for ERA+ if you divided it into 10 individual years. In the 1910s, Johnson had an average of 343 innings pitched per year. And, he recorded 20 saves. (He finished in the top 10 in the A.L. for saves 11 times.)

He was first in the A.L. in strikeouts 12 times. His 2.17 career ERA is first among starting pitchers who spent a sizable amount of their careers after the deadball era ended, with Pete Alexander’s 2.56 the next closest among starters.

Johnson had 5914 1/3rd innings pitched, the equivalent of 30 seasons at 200 innings a year, which strikes me as similar to thinking of how matching Rickey Henderson’s 1406 steals would require 50 steals a year for 28 years. His two years of >300 strikeouts, in 1910 and 1912, were the last in MLB until Bob Feller came along, and he was the last to do it twice until Sam McDowell and Sandy Koufax in the mid-1960s.

As for hitting, the Big Train hit at least .270 four times in the 1920s, peaking at .433(!) in 1925, when he went 42-97, slugging .577, with an OPS+ of 163. That, I would guess, is a record for starting pitchers, or at least a record for starters older than 35. Then, in 1927, at age 39, he hit .348 over 46 at-bats. He slugged above .400 five times, twice in the 1910s.

Johnson’s career spanned 1907 through 1927: in that time, the Senators’ cumulative winning percentage was .492, quite a bit better than I would have guessed. The Senators won .506% of their games during the 1910s, his prime, and won 90+ games 4 times in the Big Train’s career. But, they were .325% in his rookie 1907 season, and .276% in 1909, which are probably the two worst records posted by a team with a great, great player who was playing relatively well. The 1935 Braves, at 38-115, had Babe Ruth for a couple months, but he hit .181 in 72 at-bats.

]]>https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2015/01/24/walter-johnson/feed/3hatomamaThe 20 Leading Singles Hitters in MLB Historyhttps://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2015/01/13/the-20-leading-singles-hitters-in-mlb-history/
https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2015/01/13/the-20-leading-singles-hitters-in-mlb-history/#commentsTue, 13 Jan 2015 16:41:47 +0000http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/?p=3567]]>I’ve classified the hitters who rank in the top 20 for career singles hit (seasons played in parentheses, followed by the number of singles hit). These three are the sluggers:
Hank Aaron (23) 2294
Carl Yastrzemski (23) 2262
Stan Musial (22) 2253

I don’t have a great argument to make here, but it’s interesting to notice things like Jeter having more singles than either Willie Keeler or Rod Carew, and Aaron, Yastrzemski, and Musial being separated by only 41 singles-and, Aaron leading the group of three in singles hit.

Why is he so little known? He’s not in the Hall of Fame, he played in the 1880s for the most part, and his 1884 season was for the St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association. And, he did not hit better than .326, or a .452 slugging percentage, in any other season.

]]>https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/fred-sure-shot-dunlaps-1884-season/feed/0hatomamaA Brief Comparison of the Two Bay Area Dynasties: the 1971-75 A’s and 2010-14 Giantshttps://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/a-brief-comparison-of-the-two-bay-area-dynasties-the-1971-75-as-and-2010-14-giants/
https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/a-brief-comparison-of-the-two-bay-area-dynasties-the-1971-75-as-and-2010-14-giants/#commentsThu, 13 Nov 2014 17:43:11 +0000http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/?p=3561]]>The A’s cumulative winning percentage was .594, a 95-65 average record. They won 21 postseason games, but all were in the three title years: they were swept in both the 1971 ALCS and the 1975 ALCS, which is, in a way, similar to the Giants not making the playoffs in 2011 and 2013. Their WAR leaders, as Baseball-reference has it, were, from ‘71-‘75, Vida Blue (8.6), Joe Rudi (6.1), Reggie Jackson (7.8), Catfish Hunter (6.9), and Reggie again (6.7). The A’s scored a total of 3,500 runs in the five years, and allowed 2793 runs, an average of 559 per year.

The Giants’ cumulative winning percentage was .538, an 87-75 average record. They won 34 postseason games. Their WAR leaders, as Baseball-reference has it, were, from ‘10 to ‘14, Aubrey Huff (5.7), Pablo Sandoval (6.1), Buster Posey (7.3), Posey again (5.5), and Madison Bumgarner (5.3). The Giants scored a total of 3,279 runs in the five years, an average of 656 per year, and allowed 3115 runs, an average of 623 per year.

Given the sizable regular season advantage, in terms of both run differential and won-loss record, that the A’s have on the Giants, it’s worth noting that the A’s lost eight World Series games, but the Giants lost just four. While the Giant got by with just one manager, Bruce Bochy, in their 5-year stretch, the A’s needed Dick Williams and then Alvin Dark to manage them to the playoffs five times.

]]>https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/a-brief-comparison-of-the-two-bay-area-dynasties-the-1971-75-as-and-2010-14-giants/feed/1hatomamaComparing Orel Hershiser’s September and October, 1988, to Madison Bumgarner’s September and October, 2014https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2014/11/01/comparing-orel-hershisers-september-and-october-1988-to-madison-bumgarners-september-and-october-2014/
https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2014/11/01/comparing-orel-hershisers-september-and-october-1988-to-madison-bumgarners-september-and-october-2014/#commentsSat, 01 Nov 2014 13:59:57 +0000http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/?p=3555]]>A while ago I did a brief post on this blog comparing Orel Hershiser’s scoreless streak in 1988 to Drysdale’s streak in 1968. Orel’s streak began with 4 scoreless innings in a 4-2 victory over Montreal on August 30: this table covers the rest of the streak:

Continuing from that list, here is a graphic from Baseball-Almanac of Orel’s postseason performances in 1988:

And here, from Yahoo Sports, is the game log tracking Madison Bumgarner’s performances in September and October of 2014:

One decent way to compare these two is to note that Orel gave up 7 runs in the two months, which equals the 7 runs Bumgarner allowed in the postseason. Also, Hershiser pitched on fewer than 4 days rest 7 different times in the two months, while Bumgarner did that once. It’s not discrediting Bumgarner’s achievement at all to note that it fell quite a ways short of what Hershiser did. Even staff aces aren’t expected to do as much in the 2010s as in the 1980s.

]]>https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2014/11/01/comparing-orel-hershisers-september-and-october-1988-to-madison-bumgarners-september-and-october-2014/feed/3hatomamaalmanacOrelBumgamelogA Short Post About the 1975 through 1989 Kansas City Royalshttps://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/a-short-post-about-the-1975-through-1989-kansas-city-royals/
https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/a-short-post-about-the-1975-through-1989-kansas-city-royals/#commentsSun, 19 Oct 2014 00:09:03 +0000http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/?p=3542]]>Over these 15 seasons, the Royals posted an 86-72 average won-loss record, for a .544 cumulative winning percentage.
In 8 of the 15 seasons, 1975-1989, the Royals got at least 90 wins, including a peak of 102 in 1977. They were in the playoffs 7 times.
They got 90+ wins each year from 1975 through 1978, and had just 1 year from ’75-’89 of fewer than 79 wins (not counting strike-shortened 1981): 1986, a 76-win season.
This excellence made them, I’d guess, the most successful expansion franchise in the majors for quite a while. Until when? Maybe when the Blue Jays won their two World Series in 1992 and 1993.
Compare the Royals’ showing over these 15 years to their 2014 record of 89-73, a .549 winning percentage, and their 2013 record of 86-76, a .531 winning percentage.
I’ve tried to make this post be about more than just the 1985 Royals, but I close by noting that Bret Saberhagen was apparently the last ’85 Royal in the majors. His last year, 2001, was spent with the Red Sox.]]>https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/a-short-post-about-the-1975-through-1989-kansas-city-royals/feed/0hatomamaComparing the Best Players on the Two Teams Without a World Series Appearancehttps://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/comparing-the-best-players-on-the-two-teams-without-a-world-series-appearance/
https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/comparing-the-best-players-on-the-two-teams-without-a-world-series-appearance/#commentsSun, 12 Oct 2014 23:22:00 +0000http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/?p=3518]]>These are the best players in Seattle Mariners history that people can think of as M’s-that is, they had at least a few of their prime seasons with the team, enough time for a sizable number of the team’s fans to develop strong memories of them. They are: Ken Griffey, Edgar Martinez, Ichiro, Jay Buhner, John Olerud, Adrian Beltre, Alex Rodriguez, Randy Johnson, Jamie Moyer, Felix Hernandez, Omar Vizquel. And, for managers, Lou Piniella (the only M’s manager aside from Lloyd McClendon with an above .500 record) and Dick Williams.

The same list for the Expos/Nationals: Tim Raines, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Vladimir Guerrero, Larry Walker, Pedro Martinez, Dennis Martinez, Steve Rogers (the classic Expos pitcher), Rusty Staub, Ryan Zimmerman. And, for managers, Felipe Alou and Frank Robinson. (You could add players such as Mark Langston and Marquis Grissom to both of these lists, but I had to stop somewhere.)

The Expos/Nationals have had one position player with a season WAR above 8: Gary Carter, once. Meanwhile, M’s position players have reached 8 WAR 8 times: A-Rod 3 times, Griffey 3 times, Ichiro once, and Brett Boone once.

I am not very familiar with the Expos/Nationals history, but even allowing for a couple mistakes in my selection of their All-Stars, it’s clear that if they played 50 games, the M’s All-Stars would beat the Montreal/D.C. All-Stars more than half the time. I think the biggest question, then, is: why haven’t the Mariners been in a World Series?